An iPad does not fall within the telephone exemption under the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act, and users of the device do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when it comes to sending text messages, the state Superior Court has ruled in a case of first impression.

A three-judge panel of the court in Commonwealth v. Diego ruled Tuesday afternoon that having an informant relay to police officers text messages the informant received while setting up a drug deal did not violate the Wiretap Act. The decision reversed a holding from the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas to suppress the information.

Judge John T. Bender, who wrote the court's precedential opinion, said that, while the iPad was distinguishable from a phone for wiretap purposes, the defendant, Curtis Doval Diego, did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy for his texts.